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When we were kids, our parents told us not to sit too close to
the TV screen, because it would ruin our eyes. Today, thanks to
scientists at the University of California at Berkeley, and MIT,
watching television -- or your computer or smartphone -- could
actually help you see better.

That's right. The researchers have developed a display technology
that adjusts for "refractive errors in the eye," that are usually
fixed with glasses, contacts and surgery. Instead of glasses, the
correcting effect comes from your screen, which uses an algorithm
to make the image appear as if at the distance where it is the
sharpest for a person with poor eyesight.

For now, the tech is still in the early prototype phase, but the
goal of the team behind it is to be able to personalize it for
any user's prescription. They've found that they can use the
display to adjust for conditions like myopia and astigmatism and
they are looking to find ways to integrate the technology into
phones, laptops, tablets and even car GPS's.

Here’s a look:

In a
release from MIT, one of the display's creator's,
research scientist Gordon Wetzstein, says that while it isn’t an
all-purpose solution, it is generally less "invasive." And,
of course, "we spend a huge portion of our time interacting with
the digital world,” increasingly in front of displays.

Someday you’ll be able to sit back, relax and take off your
glasses when in front of your television. Or a computer or your
phone. As the creators say, it’s as if the display was wearing
glasses or contacts, not you.

We’re not sure how it works when different people with different
eye prescriptions are looking at the same screen, but the
technology still sounds pretty cool.